


The Curious Case of Emotions

by andsothebladewentsnickersnack



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: F/M, Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 14:26:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13638123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andsothebladewentsnickersnack/pseuds/andsothebladewentsnickersnack
Summary: Mostly gender neutral reader, but you wear a dress at a party which could be considered not gender neutral.Also I didn't proof read bc it's long and I don't feel like itUhh summaryThe story of how you fell in love with Data and how he unfairly assaults your champagne.





	The Curious Case of Emotions

Dancing is not something that you are good at. It's not required of you normally, and normally you don't have to go to formal events.   
Your job is pretty reasonable, you're second in command down in engineering, just under Geordi. That means that when Geordi is planetside and you're the one in charge of engineering, but when Geordi is up on the ship, there's usually nothing much for you to do. You help of course, and you've had your fair share of heroic moments fixing things that no one else could quite seem to place, but Geordi is kind of like a Superman. You looked up to him in almost every aspect of the phrase, and you were pretty sure he felt the same way about you- in a purely professional sense. You felt more comfortable in the company of machines than people- though the theory didn't seem to hold true for the android named Data. At first you spoke to him like you would any machine- talking to yourself as much as him. 

"Hey, so you must be the android Geordi was talking about! I'm very excited to meet you- one of my minors was android technology." You stop to look him over.   
"God, you're a gorgeous piece of machinery aren't you? And an AI?" You ask, and Data nods, "Wow. Just wow. I didn't even know that a positronic brain was possible- though thinking about it now it makes perfect sense. God, that would have been a cool thesis. Do you have preffered pronouns?" You ask, and Data quirks his head to the side in a surprisingly human manner.   
"I am generally reffered to as a he, and I am modeled after a male body. I do not have any feelings, but I do find that people are more comfortable using those pronouns, and I rather prefer it." He says, and you grin, amazed.  
"Stars you're advanced," you say, and the android smiles at you in an uncomfortable way, "oh, no need to do the human expression thing around me if you don't want to, I kind of prefer machines anyways-"   
"I may not be the best companion for you then, as I am on a personal quest to be more… human." He says, and you deflate. Barely five minutes in and you've already alienated the android. Great.   
"I suppose then you probably don't want to hang around me, then," you say, keeping your tone airy, "though if you ever want to talk about yourself and no one's around to listen, you can always visit!" You say, and he nods.  
"Noted."   
Then he leaves and you find that you're much more comfortable without him there.   
Of course, sometimes in his free time he visits you. The visits always start a little awkward, as Data generally just comes into your area in engineering and starts talking. You could listen to him talk for hours, his voice soothing and unfailing. It's a nics background to your work and projects, until one day he brings food with him.

"I have noticed that you do not eat at normal meal times, which can be detrimental to your health. You should also sleep more, but upon bringing it up to the commander, he told me that I should 'start small', so I asked Geordi what type of food you like. It is baked macaroni and cheese." He says, holding out a steaming bowl. The smell of the food hits your nose and you hear your stomach growl.   
"I don't like people watching me while I eat," you say, and Data quirks his head to the side again in his painfully endearing way.   
"Meals are usually shared between people, it is healthy for you." He says, and you sigh, taking the warm bowl from his hands. He sits, and gestures for you to do the same. You do so cautiously, taking a noodle onto your fork and eating it. It's pretty good. Could use more salt, but pretty good, which bring forth the question, why is it not perfect? The ship's meals were always perfect.   
"This… is good. Could use more salt." You say, and Data shakes his head.  
"I followed the recipe to a T." He says, and you furrow your brows, glaring at him.   
"Did you… make this?" You ask, and he nods.   
"If I offended you-" he starts, but you simply wave a hand in the air as if to swat his words away.   
"No, I'd just expect you to get it from the ship." You say, and he does that stupid head quirk thing that makes you blush like a kid.   
"Geordi though this might help me be more human." He says, and you laugh a little bit uncomfortably, then you continue eating, and Data launches into one of your favorite subjects- android technology. Half way through, though, he asks you a question.  
"What do you think? You do have some experience in this field." He asks, and you look up at him from your nearly emprty bowl, your progress slow going from eating one noodle at a time.   
"Um. The only robot I've ever built," you say, standing and rummaging in a drawer, waking up a small box from it's slumber, "is this. It's like a library with an AI. Hathaway, meet Data."   
"Hello Lieutenant Commander. I am Hathaway." The small box beeps out, and you smile at it fondly.  
"Hathaway, could you explain to me what you do?" Data asks, and the bot blings green before speaking again.   
"I am a personal library. I was created to read books outloud and recommend books based on personality screenings." Hathaway says, and you smile at it before placing it on the table, and sitting down to continue your meal, and Data continues speaking. 

What started as you listening to an android turned into avid conversations between you and a friend. Despite your best efforts, he's wormed his way into your tight circle of friends, and brought guests with him - occasionally inviting Riker or Wesely to come and eat with you. You don't mind when it's just Geordi and Data and you, you've grown almost disgustingly close with the two of them, to the point of willingly subjecting yourself to a night at Ten Forward, where you learn that you have a pretty good tolerance for alcohol. Until you don't, and you're being helped back to your quarters by a Geordi who's barely better off than you. Data is supporting both of you with a hand to each of your backs, steadfast.   
"Ya know my guys, I don't say it enough when I'm sober because it's pretty frowned upon in my family and honestly I'm just uncomfortable with it but I love you guys. You're my best friends and I know, " you pause, jabbing a blurry finger into Data's chest, "you're an android so you don't feel stuff but I'm still your friend, and you're still mine if you're ok with that?" You say, suddenly feeling like you want to cry, looking into Data's pretty yellow eyes, "also I know you can't be insecure but just in case you secretly are your eyes are really pretty."   
And then you're at your quarters and Data is sitting Geordi on your couch and helping you over to your bed. It's matronly, you muse, how he tucks you in gently. He stares at you for a moment before leaning in and gently kissing your forehead.   
"I am your friend. And you are mine." He says, and you smile at him, dazed.   
"Can I tell you a secret, Data?" You ask, and he nods, "I don't like it when you bring people to my sector in engineering, but if you want to that's ok because I want you to be happy? If you can, Data." 

Life went on normally after that, save for waking up to Data's food and Geordi on your couch. When you asked him he told you that your quarters were closest. When you asked him what he did all night, he said that he did work and watched you and Geordi sleep. You weren't creeped out, which scared you a little bit. 

When Data gets his emotion chip, you're the third person he tells, after Geordi and the captain, and it seems right to ask him how he feels.

"I feel, which is the most… incredible thing. I'm not sure that humans appreciate it as much as they should." You smile at him, and he smiles back. It looks odd on him, but he's still handsome, in his own way.   
"I do have a question for you, however," he says suddenly, tone almost nervous, "do... A few months ago, you were intoxicated, and you told me that you wanted me to be happy, and I must admit, looking back on our interactions with my emotion chip, and, honestly even farther back. If I could have been, I would have been fond of you. And now that I can be, I find that I am."   
"Well, we are friends. Who else can I expect to drag my drunk self back to my quarters?" You ask, laughing slightly, and Data's eyebrows raise slightly.  
"I am realizing now that it was probably somewhat unsettling to have me watching you in your sleep. I apologize." He says, and before you can tell him that it's fine, he continues speaking, "It's... My question is this-"   
"Commander Data to bridge."  
"Acknowledged." Data responds almost immediately, tone annoyed. You tell him it's ok, he can ask you next time, and you wave him off with a fond smile. 

 

Data, in all of his processing capability, in his limitless knowledge and logical ability, has never been more frustrated in his life. Of course that statement isn't quite reasonable as he's never actually been frustrated before. He's not a fan of the new feeling, but he's enjoying it. He smiles. Not as much as he enjoys other things.   
You were on board before he was, but only by a few months. You were incredibly excited to meet him, until you actually met him. Then you were vaguely uncomfortable. You still invited him back to talk to you, partly, he surmised, because you were interested in androids, partly because you were interested in his well being. He remembers this, he realizes, as the first time his crush on you emerged. It explains a lot- it explains why he went back to talk to you, though he justified it by a need to make sure that you were healthy as a senior officer. He realizes now that the need was encouraged by his friends. They may have been teasing him, or trying to teach him. Either way, he was grateful for the time he got to spend with you.   
You were incredible, even back then. He couldn't process it- only appreciate your skill under pressure, mechanical ability, and your kindness to others, but now when he looks at you his processors overload. Statistically you were average, pretty, but average, when he looks at you now you're beautiful. Your eyes are kind and sad and stunning and the image of you sends shocks to his spine. Even thinking about you in the turbolift makes him feel weak, needy. He didn't even mention it to Georgi, during a conversation you walked in and Data couldn't test his eyes away from you. Geordi teased him for it and told him to ask you out, finally.   
"Out where? Or do you mean in the sense of a date?" The term made him feel nervous, and he spoke quietly, eyeing you nervously across the room.   
"I am… afraid and excited at the idea, I believe." Data supplies, and Geordi nods.  
"Well, you'd better hurry up with it." Geordi says, and Data doesn't quite know why. 

The call to the bridge really wasnt that important. Some sort of formal event, Riker asking questions about which personnel should be invited and Picard telling them that it's formal. Data suggested that you be invited, as you had started to become close to some of the others there, and Riker agreed. 

But now you have to dance. You find yourself next to Geordi, he's wearing a nice suit and you're wearing a blue backless dress, one that you thought you'd never have to wear. And makeup, more makeup than you've ever worn before, which was admittedly not much. Upon entering the room you're immediately scoped out by Commander Riker, who's just a touch faster than Data. 

"So, you're finally up and out of engineering?" Riker asks, one arm comfortable around your waist as he leads you through the crowd and to the bar to get a drink. You accept a flute of champagne, and smile weakly at him.  
"I can't exactly ignore whatever ambassador is here, not that they're gonna want to talk to me." You say, sipping at your drink.   
"Well, some of us do want to talk to you," he says, and you laugh, a little bit more comfortable in the presence of a friend.   
"Do you dance, ______?" He asks, and you raise your eyebrows.   
"Not if I can help it," you respond, and the commander takes the glass from you, placing it on the bar.  
"Let's see if I can change that," Riker says, and you sigh, letting him lead you to the dance floor as a slow song starts to play. His arm snakes back around your waist, his other hand taking yours and you fall into the rythym, letting him sway you, and it's ok, it's not great, there are other people you'd rather be dancing with, other synthetic life forms, but the Commander is funny, and his hands don't stray too far. The only issue you're getting are the bedroom eyes, so you pull away after the dance, and Riker backs off accordingly, but not without whispering something to you that made you do a double take around the room until your eyes settled on Data, watching you like a hawk from the bar, holding your drink, Riker kisses you once on the cheek, and you watch as the glass shatters in Data's hand.   
"I knew it." Riker laughs, pushing you forward towards Data.   
You stumble for a moment, shooting a glare back at Riker, who was already twirling Troi around the dance floor. You continue to move forward until you're standing directly in front of Data. 

As he watched you walk away with the commander, Data was hit by a few different emotions. Some sort of melancholy, happiness that you're making friends, and a distant sort of anger. Only one of those feelings made sense, however, so he grabbed onto it, and tried to feel happy as he watched you dance. He had picked up your drink after Riker set it down, ready to protect it from any unsavory sort. As he watches you dance, he finds himself becoming less happy. More angry. That same distant anger, and as he watches the commander pull you in close as the song begins to end, as he watches the commander whisper something to you that makes you look at him, as he watches the commander kiss you, even if it's just on your cheek, and he's filled with rage, sadness, and he realizes as the glass breaks in his hand that he's jealous. He stands and cleans up his mess, apologizing, and suddently you're standing in front of him, and his world stops.   
"Hey, uh, why'd you do that to my poor drink?" You ask, attempting humor.   
"I was jealous." He said simply, and you find yourself blushing.   
"Would you… would you like to dance, Data?" You ask, and he nods, almost too fast, and then you're back out on the dance floor, dancing with Data, and making conversation much more comfortably than before. He is technically perfect at dancing, and his hand, appropriately placed on your back, sends sparks down your spine. It's different than dancing with Riker, better.   
"I feel as though this is an appropriate time to ask the question I meant to ask before." He says, and you smile at him.   
"I feel like you're probably going to like my answer," you say somewhat playfully, and Data smiles at you, emotion flooding into his eyes.   
"Would you like to go on a date with me?" He asks, and you smile at him as the song reaches it's zenith, and you nod, and you kiss him.   
He's surprised at first, but then he realizes exactly what's happening and his grip on you tightens and he kisses you back with an intensity, and of course it's all technically right, but it's perfect, and your senses are flooded with the climax of a build up that had been happening beneath your noses for years now, and your movement stops as Data kisses you, and he leans forward slightly, pushing you to lean back, his hands skim along the bare skin of your back, holding you up and even when the song changes he doesn't stop kissing you.   
Until Geordi comes up and taps him on the shoulder.   
"You're making a spectacle of yourselves, and I'm not sure that my engineer will appreciate that come morning."   
Data separates himself from you, eyes meeting yours as you open them.   
You feel Data's hands press a little on your back as you straighten up.   
"Sorry, Geordi," you say, a blush high and heavy on your cheeks. You look around, taking in the stares of the people around you, and you look back to Data.  
"We should maybe talk about this?" You suggest, and he nods, leading you back to the bar, Geordi in tow.


End file.
